Grower, Ginner Participation Urged for Upcoming Trust Protocol Webinars

By Cotton Grower Staff|September 21, 2020

The U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol will conduct a series of live webinar sessions through early December for gins/cooperatives and cotton producers to explain the need for program participation and to demonstrate the enrollment process.

Webinars for gins/cooperatives will be held September 22, 23, 24 and 25. Sessions for cotton producers are scheduled for September 29 and 30; October 1, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15; November 12; and December 10. All sessions begin at 8:00 am Central time.

Information about the webinars – including registration – can be found on the Trust Protocol website. A producer signup tutorial is also available on YouTube.

Some 300 U.S. cotton producers participated in a Trust Protocol pilot, and producer enrollment is now underway across the Cotton Belt. The National Cotton Council is optimistic that 500-750 producers will be enrolled by December 2020, with the aim of bringing more than half of all U.S. cotton production into the Trust Protocol by 2025. Reaching this goal will help ensure the future of U.S. cotton by helping producers tell their sustainability story and ultimately assure brands/retailers that they can purchase U.S. cotton with even greater confidence, knowing that it is grown more sustainably and verified by third-party audit.

Trust Protocol producer enrollees will complete a self-assessment of their farming practices via a questionnaire, and their field data is shared through Field to Market’s Fieldprint Platform. Control Union Certifications North America verifies the Trust Protocol annual data that will highlight the sustainability metrics – land use, soil carbon, water management, soil loss, greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency.